Fear of a militarized Iran, as Guard gains 'primacy

Space War ^ | 1/5/2010 | AFP VIa Space War

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The Revolutionary Guard Corps has "gained primacy" in Iran since the 2009 presidential election, fueling fears there that the country is becoming militarized, a Pentagon-sponsored study said Tuesday. The study by the RAND Corporation also urged US policymakers to take "great care" in their statements regarding Iran in order not to give the leadership a pretext to divert attention from domestic troubles, like the economy.

The disputed election was "a watershed event" in the Islamic republic's history "that has altered elite relationships and solidified the position of the Islamist right and the Revolutionary Guards in Iranian politics," it said.

In the decade after the 1979 revolution, the clerics had the most power, but in the 1990s, new patronage networks not accountable to the state dominated the economy, even if the clerics kept "considerable political influence," it said.

"During the past decade, however, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has gained primacy, using the increased Iranian emphasis on security issues as a political and economic lever," according to Rand, a think tank.

The "election further empowered the Revolutionary Guards and has fueled reformist and even conservative fears of a creeping militarization of Iranian politics and society," said Alireza Nader, a study co-author.

It urged policymakers to watch the following trends: whether the Revolutionary Guard will continue to grow in power or decline; the relationship between those who overthrew the shah and the post-revolutionary leaders; and political jockeying to find out will become the next supreme leader.

It said those three trends have all been affected by the election which gave hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad another term in power.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Ping

[familyop]

...”Fear of a militarized Iran?” Iran is also a communist country, BTW. The government owns just about everything there.

[Melchior]

This is utter crap. The Revolutinary Guards (Pasdaran) have been an active player since their creation under Khomeini, and especially since their creation of the Hizbollah in 1982. It has for years been responsible for the purchase of military armaments. Whereas the military has been isolated from government leadership, the Pasdaran has played a direct part, from Rafsanjani in the early nineties to the present. It has been,and is now, the active revolutionary arm used by the Ayatollahs to enforce the Iranian mullohcracy.

[Old Badger]

Interesting ................ compare Obama’s desire to create a “Civilian Force” comparably equipped as our military and you have what? A “Revolutionary Guard” unit. Gee, I wonder where Muslim Zero got that idea, hmmmmmmn?

[hennie pennie]

*ping*

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks hp.

[AdmSmith]

There are two interesting reports by Rand:

Mullahs, Guards, and Bonyads, An Exploration of Iranian Leadership Dynamics 170pp http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG878.pdf

and The Rise of the Pasdaran
Assessing the Domestic Roles of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps The Rise of the Pasdaran
Assessing the Domestic Roles of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps 153 pp http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG821.pdf

Both worth the time to read them

[nuconvert]

Thanks

[AdmSmith]

Ayatollah Saanei Succeeds Montazeri as Spiritual Guide for Opposition
http://www.insideiran.org/critical-comments/ayatollah-saanei-succeeds-montazeri-as-spiritual-guide-for-opposition/

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yousef_Sane’i
His website http://saanei.org

[hennie pennie]

Thank you very much for the link to the very interesting article.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks AdmSmith.